Mayer on what he hopes to accomplish in the next decade: “The most important thing that I do is to mentor students and postdocs, to stimulate, challenge, and support them from the large freshman classroom to the one-on-one interactions in my research lab. The growth and success of the students is tremendously rewarding. Scientifically, I would like to expand the reach and influence of the concepts of proton-coupled electron transfer. The newest direction in my group is to explore the impact of these ideas in the chemistry of materials and interfaces.”

What his colleagues say: “Jim’s research, which focuses on the chemistry and mechanism of atom and group transfer reactions, has been creatively conceived, thoughtfully analyzed, and beautifully executed. His early work aimed to understand the nature and opportunities for metal complexes with multiple bonds to O and N. As is typical of Jim and his scholarship, he did not just discover new reactions, he provided broad conceptual models in his book with Bill Nugent, “Metal-Ligand Multiple Bonds,” and in insightful analyses in Accounts of Chemical Research. This work still stands as a landmark in the field.”—Richard Eisenberg, University of Rochester